


Fire and Lightning

by spoilerings



Series: Thorbruce Week 2018 [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (aka thor thinks there's danger), Danger, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 11:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15605277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoilerings/pseuds/spoilerings
Summary: Everything is fine. Great, in fact. Bruce is just a little, teensy-weensy bit on fire.(Spoiler alert: Thor is there to save him.)





	Fire and Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> thorbruce week day 7: fire

Everything is fine. Great, in fact. Bruce is just a little, teensy-weensy bit on fire. Only his arm, though, and it was honestly just a very specific set of unfortunate circumstances that led him to his current predicament. It’s really bringing him back to his Caltech days, as a matter of fact: back when he had all the same crazy ideas but much less access to state-of-the-art facilities where he could try them out safely. Or not safely at all, considering the fact that he has managed to set himself on fire in what is possibly the most well-equipped laboratory on the Eastern seaboard.

 

The alarm has just gone off - Steve got pissed at Tony and made him up the safety measures after that one time Tony passed out for an hour and woke up to half of his lab in flames, all because he had not given FRIDAY authorization to surveil in that sector of the facility. 

 

The sprinklers above his station go off as well, immediately putting out the flame and leaving Bruce alone with a slightly singed sweater and a very bruised ego. He figures that, in the future, he should probably be more careful when he’s using acetone and also happens to have an open flame a few inches away, but he was working on something important, okay? He can be safe when he’s dead. ( _ God _ , he really needs to spend less time with Tony, or he’s going to become horribly self-destructive.)

 

FRIDAY interrupts his mild existential spiraling by telling him, “Doctor Banner, I feel I should warn you - Thor was notified of the issue, and he seems quite angry.”

 

Okay, so now Thor is going to be pissed at him for being careless. And he’s going to see what Bruce had to sneak away to work on in the first place. Great.

 

He tries his best to clean up the crime scene a little bit - an action which proves to be futile the second Thor nearly barrels down the door in his haste to reach the lab and runs over to Bruce before he can go so far as to peel off his fire-retardant gloves. He feels rather than sees - as the movement happens so quickly - Thor lift him off his stool and wrap him in the most bone-crushing hug he’s ever felt in his life, which is truly a feat considering the amount of hugs he has received from the God of Thunder.

 

What sets this hug apart in particular is that he is far more confused than comforted. He decides to bring this up after about a minute of Thor just standing there with his arms wrapped firmly around an unresponsive Bruce, eventually inquiring, “Um, Thor? What’s going on?”

 

Thor just  _ shushes  _ him in response, and Bruce tries not to let that get the best of him, but he can feel the slightest hint of rage start to creep its way up his spine. He takes a deep breath before continuing, “Seriously Thor, I’m really…”  _ getting impatient? _ “... confused.”

 

“Nothing is wrong, my love, I will make sure of it.”

 

“Well- okay, I appreciate it, but I don’t really get where this is coming from.”

 

At this, Thor finally breaks the hug and holds Bruce by the shoulders an arm’s length away. He looks very confused as well. “Well… I just mean, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you. But I won’t let you out of my sight again.”

 

Bruce suddenly realizes what the hell Thor is on about. “Wait, you’re worried about the fire?” Thor’s sheepish shrug confirms his suspicions. “Thor, there’s seriously nothing to worry about. I’m fine. It was honestly nothing. The sprinklers put it out before it even burned through my sweater,” he explained, holding out his arm to show Thor his sleeve, which is still very much intact. “See?”

 

Thor rolls his eyes and says matter-of-factly, “We both know that could have been something more dangerous. You are not exactly the most… cautious person when it comes to experimenting.”

 

“Well, then, you really have nothing to worry about, because I wasn’t experimenting. I was working on a project. So. Perfectly safe,” Bruce retorts with a smirk, thinking that he’s won.

 

Unfortunately, this makes Thor shift his gaze over to the work station, about to completely ruin the surprise in which Bruce was so invested that he  _ literally  _ set himself on fire. Somehow he’s able to quickly move just a hair to his left, blocking the most incriminating part of the mess - the part that would actually reveal what he’s been doing in there for so long.

 

“What are you hiding from me?”

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

Thor rolls his eyes yet again, very fed up with Bruce’s evasion tactics today, and says, “It clearly is not nothing.”

 

Bruce groans. “You’re right. It is something. And that something is a secret, so if you could just please-”

 

Before he can finish, Thor is reaching around him to grab what’s on the table, and both of their worlds come to a halt as they stand there in front of each other, staring down at the black and silver ring in Thor’s hand.

 

Because he can’t stand awkward silences and doesn’t have a brain-to-mouth filter when he’s nervous, Bruce all but shouts, “Um! Um. I can- I can explain that?”

 

Thor just keeps staring at it.

 

“Okay, so, it’s a funny story, actually, because… Well, really it happened because Tony bet that you would be the one to propose, and it’s not like I would have a problem with that, but he seemed so sure that I would  _ never  _ have the guts, which is completely ridiculous, I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t believe me, so I told him I would do it once I had a ring, and he offered to help me pick one out, but clearly he wasn’t being serious, so I decided to make one, because even though I’m not much of an inventor, I do know a lot, and I thought, you know -  _ how hard could it be? _ \- so I just started doing it, and actually I was really bad at it at first, but by that point Tony had realized that I wasn’t faking, so he was helping me, but he’s been gone for a couple days, and I really needed to keep working on it, and I wasn’t sure how exactly to fix the coloring on it because I screwed it up yesterday so the first thing I thought of was acetone because it’s a good solvent, you know, and I forgot that I still had a burner on, so when I spilled the acetone everywhere, it sort of set me on fire.”

 

Even after Bruce’s uncharacteristic ramblings, Thor still continues to stare at the ring.

 

“Thor, I’m-”

 

“Are you sure?” Thor finally asks, though he still doesn’t look up.

 

Bruce doesn’t know what to say. “What… What do you mean am I sure?”

 

Thor pauses a moment, still staring down. “Are you sure you want to marry me?”

 

Now Bruce  _ really _ doesn’t know what to say. “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t I?”

 

Thor shrugged and finally looked up to meet Bruce’s gaze. “I just want to be sure. I don’t want to give you a reason to regret your decision.”

 

This kind of breaks Bruce’s heart. Why, suddenly, is Thor the one who has crippling self-esteem issues when it comes to their relationship? “Thor, I could never regret a decision like this. I love you. Do you love me?”

 

Thor replies, almost angrily, “Of course. I love you like I’ve never loved another soul.”

 

“Then how could there be a problem?”

 

“I have never had such a… successful relationship. And I am not sure what comes next, especially if it’s different from what I’ve grown used to on Asgard.”

 

Bruce laughs at that a little, replying, “Thor, I have never had a relationship as successful as this either. And nobody gets to decide what comes next except for us. We love each other, so… That’s all that matters to me.” Though Bruce is trying to stay strong for Thor, he’s now getting very nervous. He  _ really _ hopes it’s not showing.

 

“I see… Well, then, I believe I need to hear a proposal?”

 

Bruce blinks up at Thor’s face for a good few seconds before his brain catches up. “Right!” he exclaims, and gets down on one knee. “Uh- Thor Odinson, will you-”

 

Bruce is interrupted by a loud crash coming from the window, and when he turns to look outside, he sees the brightest streak of lightning he’s ever seen followed by another booming noise - a phenomenon he would never be able to experience had he not met the man in front of him. He looks back up at Thor, seeing his eyes full of unshed tears and his hands thrumming with just the tiniest amount of electricity, as if he’s ready to combust.

 

“So, I guess that’s a yes?”

**Author's Note:**

> fuck you if you think “uwu soft bruce” wouldn’t propose, this man is BRAVE. (also he dicks down thor on a regular basis, don’t deny it)


End file.
